A/N: Thanks Julie Togepie for that review!
Ralmon, I don't know if you've read up till here, but I have to admit that you have some valid points. I've been dumping convoluted points and rules for no reason (at least not explained now), and two chief complains about this story have been that I seem to be going to fast (I apologize if it felt so, I rather felt like anything extra would be 'filler' and left it), and that the chapters are too short. And I did focus a lot on the battles since I assumed they would be a main point, but perhaps I left out other things.
I don't know if I can go back and change the other things right now, but I will try to change things in these new chapters and going on.
The breeze drifted the lazily clouds gently over Ash's army.
Then again, as it only had eight hundred people, calling it an army was a bit of a stretch.
Heck, eight hundred people are hardly enough to qualify as being your average middle school, for that matter. 'Siege party' seemed to describe it better.
Still, it was the largest group that Ash had ever travelled with, and he liked to think of it like his old journeys, except far bigger.
They had encountered no people or any further resistance than that barrier that Linnea had set up. The land was lush with plant life and the sweet smell of flowers permeated the air, while Pokemon like huge hordes of Bellossom could be seen dancing.
All of this coupled with the lovely weather had placed most of the army in a good mood.
That was simply another way of saying that everyone in the army was in a good mood… except for Duke Hamnet.
"Hurry up, you laggards! We have to get their fast! AND STOP SMILING! WE'RE HERE TO LAY SIEGE TO A CITY, WE'RE NOT ON SOME BLOODY PICNIC!" he would shout through sleep-deprived eyes at random people.
After two hours, Ash thought that they should rest, and perhaps send some scouting parties ahead to check what lay before them. He released his Fearow which took to the sky and flew away to gauge the lay of the land.
Ash sat down as the siege party assembled a makeshift camp. Gulliver and he had been walking together and chatting aimlessly up till now, but Duke Hamnet decided to join them.
"I think you should take a short nap," Ash said. "You really look like you could use one."
"Indeed," Duke Hamnet said. He was clearly too tired to resist. "But I would like to share my opinions on how we've been going lately, and all I can fathom is that this has been far too easy. We have run into no enemy scouts or patrols, and I haven't seen anything resembling a smoke signal… this all seems just too simple to be true. Linnea has to know that we're coming. Unless, wait- what if Linnea wants us to take Aroughs- no, that can't be right."
He spent the next ten minutes thinking up o scenarios before he finally dozed off.
"Well, glad that's over," Gulliver whispered.
"Eh, he's just doing his job," Ash said.
Lunch was prepared and of course, chatter among the troops began as they started exchanging stories and playing games.
Ash and Gulliver were engaged in a game of chess (it usually ended up with both of them losing all their pieces since none of them was good at it) when a small lanky boy rushed over to them, saluted and said, "Scout reporting for duty sirs!"
Duke Hamnet's bloodshot eyes snapped open. "What happened? Who's there?" he groggily muttered.
"Scout report, sirs," the boy said. "I was movin' ahead 'bout when I heard some chattering, and I saw a camp of people sitting around and lounging. I placed myself close to the brush and snuck up on 'em and saw they were 'bout seven or so."
"Where are they?" Hamnet demanded.
"'Bout fifteen minutes from here, if you'll run," the scout answered.
"Good," Duke Hamnet said. "We need a way to deal with these scouts… we can't have them signaling the city about our approach." He turned to Ash. "Sir, what we should do is knock most of them unconscious and keep a few for questioning on the condition of Aroughs and what Linnea has planned for us."
Duke Hament was afraid that Ash might protest to this, but Ash nodded. "Sure. We should leave quickly with a small party and take them out before the rest of the army arrives."
They left fifteen minutes later with a party of sixteen. They left most of their stuff behind and let the scouts guide them towards where the enemy was camped.
As the sound of voices drifted towards them, they crouched down into the bush and crawled. Ash then peered his head slightly to get a glimpse of their opponents.
They were wearing a uniform that was composed of light green trousers and shirts with three white stripes across the shoulder. Four of them were involved in a sort of card game along with two spectators. One of them had his head down and was examining something in his lap, while the voice of one could be heard from inside a pitched tent.
All of them seemed to be relaxed and enjoying the weather, which surprised both Duke Hamnet and Ash. Were they not expecting them? Or where they simply inexperienced? But if they were inexperienced, why would they be trusted with guarding the border?
"This doesn't feel right," Ash said.
"I share your concern," Duke Hamnet said. "But we have to do something, don't we?"
Ash nodded.
But it wasn't as if either one of them had to do so much as raise a finger. Or, in Duke Hamnet's case, more than two as he gave the signal.
Two Vileplume jumped out of the bushes and released a heavy dose of Sleep Powder towards the crowd. Most of them zonked off before they had the slightest clue what had hit them. One of them emerged from the tent only to fall asleep before anything else could happen.
All but one of them fell to the Sleep Powder, but just then the wind started and the cloud began to move towards where Duke Hamnet and Ash were.
They quickly got up and moved out of range, but the one sole enemy scout who had been looking at something and had been spared the effect of the Sleep Powder got up right then, saw both of them and his sleeping companions, and ran off.
"After him!" Duke Hamnet said.
The Vileplum were withdrawn and Duke Hamnet used his Altaria to blow the Sleep Powder away.
"He's getting away!" Ash said as he chased after the scout.
Ash had to hand one thing to the scout: that he was fast and Ash found himself sweaty and panting. Others had joined in on the chase, but he was barely able to keep up the guy in sight!
Ash then nearly face-palmed for making another obvious mistake as was his habit. He released his Arcanine and rode it, something he should have done from the very beginning.
The guy seemed to realize quickly that he was done for, so he desperately changed directions and sat down, scribbled something on a piece of paper and tied it to a Pidgey that he released and then sent out before Ash converged on him.
"No! We can't let that message reach them!" Duke Hamnet said, barely catching up to them.
The Pidgey took flight towards the open sky. It had barely gone fifty feet when a huge shadow swooped down on it and knocked it out before catching it on its back and landing.
"Good job, Fearow," Ash said. He untied the message and saw that there was only one work written on it: HAMNET.
The guy seemed to realize that all of his options were gone and put his hands up. He glared at Hamnet and said, "Traitor."
"Bah!" Duke Hamnet spat.
Ash took a closer look at the kid and noticed that he couldn't have been much older than him. He also seemed to be better dressed than the other scouts.
"So, do tell us what you're doing here," Duke Hamnet said.
"I don't need to talk to you," the guy said. "Not to someone who sold out his rightful lady and decided to side with a barbarian."
Duke Hamnet glanced at Ash, but Ash wasn't angry about the comment, rather he was curious. "What's your name?"
The guy snapped his neck to look at Ash and size him up, who was on top of an Arcanine and wearing what must have seemed like very weird clothes. Ash had kept his Badges hidden from view inside of his coat once they had crossed the border, thinking it might have helped if they ran into an enemy for them not to know who they had found.
"Hasbudral," the guy said in a low voice. "What's it to you?"
"Well, Habsbu- uh, Hasburd, uh, well, we just wanted to know why you and your friends were hanging out and having a party instead of spreading out and trying to find our army," Ash said.
"Army?" the guy asked, confused. "What army?"
The sounds of the rest of the siege party began to echo through the woods, so loudly that Hasbudral must have noticed them.
"Yes, an army," Duke Hamnet said. "You know, for when we plan to lay siege to Aroughs as Linnea must have known that we planned."
Hasbudral became baffled at this. "An army? You're going to lay siege to Aroughs?"
Duke Hamnet and Ash glanced at each other.
"How do you not know that?" Ash asked. "I mean, Selena must have heard about it in through our communications channels, and Linnea must have spies in our territory."
Duke Hamnet frowned. "Yes, that is true, but they would have been unable to cross that barrier anyway." He then glared at Hasbudral. "Don't try to fool us, Linnea must be either incompetent or a complete idiot if she hadn't set out a web of scouts to signal towards Aroughs when we arrived."
"I don't know," Hasbudral said. "We were just given word back in Aroughs that they were to burn the crops if you came, and that there was a barrier across the border so we didn't have to worry too much about normal raids, and that the barbarian king Ash would probably come in a small group."
'That's how we've been moving against Thomdolt and Freyja," Ash muttered. He then turned to Duke Hamnet. "What do you make of it?"
"It looks like he's telling the truth," Duke Hamnet said. "But the truth makes no sense and we should probably ask the other prisoners."
Hasbudral was tied up, but Ash ordered him to be treated fairly along with the rest of the prisoners. Duke Hamnet began barking orders for five minutes before he began swaying and collapsed.
"Looks like we're in charge then," Gulliver said. Duke Hamnet was carried away on a stretcher and left to snooze.
Ash and Gulliver then tried their best to organize things. They ran into more scout camps along the way, which they took in a similar manner.
There weren't many forests or trees in Linnea's domain, which made dust storms and tornadoes quite common in some places, but there was a relatively large group of trees near where they decided to camp for the night so that they would have some cover. It was far enough from the city of Aroughs so that they wouldn't be spotted.
The nighttime campfires were dotted with excited people swapping stories about the day's events. Duke Hamnet still hadn't woken up and they had decided not to try and rouse him until it was morning.
The city of Aroughs was one of the crown jewels of the Fourth Gym Leader's territories. In its entire history, it had been burnt to the ground a total of eleven times and so boasted considerable defenses.
The city itself was nestled near a river which would serve as a small port and supply water for a part of the city. It boasted of a stone wall fifty feet high on all sides. Its location, surrounded by plains on all sides meant that sneaking up on it wasn't a possibility.
The interior of the city was similarly designed with networks and street corners where soldiers could be stationed, and it had a central citadel with its own sixty feet high wall and which didn't have a bastion out of place.
It was extremely impressive, Ash had to admit.
But then again, it was also true that he could raze the entire city with his Badges within a few hours, so neither the defenses nor the soldiers manning them bothered him too much.
Once it was obvious that they were in sight, they quickly rushed towards the city so they were just out of range of any catapults or weapons the defenders had (or at least, hopefully they were out of range) and pitched their tents.
The only thing left now was to make their demand.
The governance of the city of Aroughs had been trusted to one Lady Alarice, who was known for her fair and level-headed decisions.
Unfortunately, she was no longer in charge as she had suddenly became ill and the regent chosen was her only son Edmund, who was the exact opposite of what the city needed at a time like this.
He devoted most of his time to drinking and other pleasures, and he was recovering from yet another night of debauchery when he was (very rudely in his opinion) shaken in order to wake him up.
"Wazzat? Wha…" he mumbled out before his headache returned and he opened his eyes to see the captain of the city's defenses in front of him.
"Sir, there is a situation," the captain said.
Edmund groggily shook his head and tried to get his bearings. It felt like someone was using Wood Hammer on his head repeatedly…
"Why'd you wake me up?" came the answer to what the captain had said.
The captain realized that the regent was most certainly not in his senses. "Sir, there is a small army amassed in front of the city walls!"
The words took a while to register with Edmund, but when they did, Edmund's eyes snapped open and he made an attempt to get up, which failed. He knew he had to immediately move towards the city walls and so didn't bother washing, or even changing out of his regal (though vomit-stained) tunic.
Edmund was subsequently half carried towards the outermost edge of the city's gates. It was a few hours past noon now.
Shielding his eyes from the sun's rays, Edmund took in the sight before him. Slightly more than a kilometer away, there were an array of tents colored in almost all hues imaginable which stretched onwards for a considerable distance.
Several people milled between the tents, cooking and taking and appeared to be engaged in almost all kinds of activities normal in an army like that.
"How long have they been here?" Edmund asked.
"About three hours, give or take since we first spotted them," the captain said. "As far as we can tell, they number from six to eight thousand humans and several times that number of Pokemon."
Edmund made his own preliminary sweep based on the number of tents he could see… and those numbers seemed to be plausible.
"Have they issued any demand or decree?" Edmund asked.
"Not yet."
Edmund began nervously playing with his handkerchief. "What about our scouts outside the walls?"
"We have received no word from them," the captain said. "I can only assume then that they have been captured."
"Are we sure that they're enemies?" Edmund frantically asked. "Could this be some test or group under Lady Linnea's command?"
Both of them knew that this was highly unlikely and just a faint hope of Edmund's that this was not a foreign army.
They continued to watch the mass of tents when a lone figure detached from them and began advancing towards the area in Arough's immediate environs, which had a few farms and estates belonging to some wealthy landlords. The figure then released a Pokemon- an Altaria, upon which it rode and rose to become nearly level with the city's wall and flew so close that Edmund could see the rider's face.
Edmund frowned. "He looks familiar…"
"That's Duke Hamnet, sir," the captain said. "Lady Linnea had his sketch posted and distributed, remember?"
"Ah yes… he looked familiar," Edmund mused.
Duke Hamnet surveyed the garrison assembled at the walls and took out a megaphone.
"Citizens of Aroughs!" he shouted and the voice reached even the spectators who had begun to amass below the walls. "I am Duke Hamnet, and I speak to you on behalf of Sir Ash, the current First, Second, and Third Gym Leader, Arceus' Favorite, the Celestial One, and the liberator of people from the rule of the corrupt Gym Leaders! Your overlord, Lady Linnea has attempted to starve us out by refusing to ship us grain! Know this: that our power and weapons are beyond compare! Our leader could demolish your walls as a child would a stack of wooden blocks! Our siege weaponry can shake the earth itself! We give you a proposal of mercy, surrender now and we will only take the government's sources of grain. Your people, Pokemon, and belongings will all remain safe. Deny this, and our wrath will be directed towards you! We await your answer by dawn."
Duke Hamnet then returned back to his camp.
As Edmund watched the Altaria retreat across the horizon, he began biting the corner of his handkerchief and sobbing as quietly as he could.
Why did this have to happen to him?
Edmund knew that he was regent simply because Linnea and Li-han couldn't have bothered to appoint one to Aroughs as both were busy with other matters and so he had been chosen and that neither of them had any special liking for him so he knew that being Lady Alarice's heir would not spare him from punishment.
He had received no word from Linnea that an army was approaching, only that most likely a small raiding party would come, and when that happened they were to burn their grain using explosives that they had been supplied.
Only that the explosives hadn't been placed where they were supposed to. When the explosives had arrived, Edmund should have placed them near the grain supplies as soon as possible, but it had been his birthday and he had been busy with celebrations, and one thing had led to another and he had completely forgotten to do so.
"Is their leader with them? This Ash, I mean?" Edmund asked.
"We don't know sir, but it would make sense if they got through the barrier," the captain answered.
Edmund gulped. If their Gym Leader wasn't with them, then they could easily hold them off. If he was with them, then they wouldn't stand a chance.
Below, near the walls, the news was already spreading like wildfire from place to place and soon the entire city would know of the barbarian's offer.
Whatever they were going to do, they had to do it quickly.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and do please review if you liked!
